When we Lived
by TheGreatHibiki
Summary: Does it hurt lose someone? Does it hurt to watch them fade away in front of you? Or does it hurt more reliving the same happy moment over again, to keep hope alive that one day you would return to what you once had? To remember, When we Lived. Naru/Ino


The birds were singing, the children laughing, the small stream that they were sitting next to was burbling with a a soothing wash that made this one of Ino's favorite places. But what made her the happiest, was the man beside her, watching the kids of the village play across the stream. His tall looming shadow covered her head from the sun's harsh light as she laid her head in his lap, letting his long calloused finger's caress her golden locks as she simply enjoyed his hands slipping past her let down hair, something she only let him do. His scent was everywhere, filling her head with both the tang of dirt and the utter contented feeling of his protection. She began to drift off, lulled to sleep by his gentle heartbeat and the peaceful scene before her.

* * *

When we Lived

By

Hibiki

All Characters belong to Kishimoto, I'm just playing around with them.

* * *

The surrounding area grew darker, as a cloud had placed itself between them and the sun, allowing her a moment or two to look up and see his face. She had found he had been watching her with a smile that made her heart skip a beat. Long had the chubby childish face of his youth slipped away leaving him smooth but sharp features only broken up by the whisker like scars, no longer just cute, the scars brought a sensual wildness to his looks that only made his eyes so startling and alluring. From a flaxen mop and tan skin peered out blue oceans that spoke volumes of how happy he was in that moment. Like a calm sea he bathed her in his adoration with silence, only showing it with a smile that was not in any way forced, like it had when she had first met him. There was no mask here, only Naruto. Only her Naruto.

"I love you." She offered, wanting to see his smile change as it often did when she said it to that slightly embarrassed yet completely smitten grin that he gave her. He, despite his exuberant attitude, was still new to such feelings and to have her bring them up usually left a small bit of insecurity and fidgeting that she found both adorable and lovable to see. Only he didn't grin, his smile merely grew as he leaned in and his chapped lips found hers in a quick, hesitant, but by no means; lacking kiss.

"I love you too." She had heard them a hundred times, if only that day alone, yet not one had the feel like this one. This one moment was special, there was something that couldn't beat his simple declaration, in this place of theirs without a single pause that made her heart soar and her eyes water with tears. His smile dropped but before her could ask her she pulled him down, lips locked in a desperate battle to show him just how happy he made her.

It always amazed him, that even if her tastes seemed rather different, meaning expensive, than his; that everything he did for her was more important than anything he could give or buy in her book. He had even admitted it to her once, early in their relationship. She had taken it in stride, more happy he would worry about their relationship like that, yet more because getting to know him right after the war, when he had become the world's hero, he was still that dorky kid from her childhood. Naruto right from the start, despite his many changes, that same lonely child from the academy, even with ties that had bound him to others had grown, while others had snapped, those that held had made up his family. Ino had thankfully changed from that more self centered girl into a more open minded young woman, and was able to see beyond herself to him. In the years that followed, as Naruto climbed the gauntlet set out before his goal, she had been a support to him, a friend who believed in his dreams no matter what. Despite their often different mindsets, there was enough to cause her to look at him differently, and the two of them had taken that first uneasy step past friendship.

It had been awkward at first, dating. Uncertain how certain friends would act, how the world would see their hero less as a idol but as a human with desires like any other, and how even they themselves would react starting as just acquaintances at best, then to friendship, followed by being very close friends that had eventually become lovers. But love they did, and now she couldn't even remember what life was like without him by her side, that seeming dull and monotone life where everything was this, or that with no layers or flavors in between.

But all of those thoughts were soon drifting away in the heat of his body against hers, the feel of his hands holding her close to him as they put all their feelings into a searing kiss that she couldn't forget.

But she knew it was coming.

Ino pulled away from Naruto, only to find her slightly younger self engaged in the most heated make out with her beloved. Tears still flowed from her eyes, but now the happiness had been replaced by a pained ghost of a smile.

A child across the stream from them fell in just as she released her jutsu.

* * *

Ino rose from her chair, looking to the almost frail looking figure laying unmoving in the hospital bed beside her. The steady beeps of the machinery next to him had become something all too familiar, yet all the same hated by the very soul of her being. His face still carried that sharpness to it, but the smooth lines and tan had faded. The scars that had pronounced his wild nature seemed looming shadows in the hollowed caverns that were his emaciated cheeks as her hand slid over them. The darkness of the sky which could be seen from his room window was more prone due to the ominous snow filled clouds that hung heavy over the leaf village than the time, making it all the more startling to her as she came from their last memory together.

"It's snowing now, honey." She called out to him. "So different from last I talked to you. I miss you so much, Naruto. I wish you would wake up, say it was all a prank, and be back the way you were. I hate seeing you like this, not even Sakura can come anymore. It's so hard for them to believe a rock did this to you. It's so hard not to blame that boy for what happened, but I know... I KNOW you would keep telling me that I shouldn't, that it wasn't his fault. Every time I say it I can almost hear you tell me that. Maybe why I keep saying it. I want to believe so badly, baby, that you'd wake up the longer I talked to you." Tears fell as she kissed him hoping that there would be some reaction but nothing happened. Just like all the times before. Hopelessness rose up from the pit in her stomach as her resolve broke and she covered her head in her arms upon his chest sobbing.

"Naruto... Please come back to me."

* * *

The harsh winter wind slammed into her as she opened the door from the hospital and she pulled her coat closer to her. The crunch of the snow against her boots did little to raise the spirits of the young woman as she began walking away from the building, her eyes and mind unseeing of the world around her.

"INO!" From the door and down the steps a startling pink flash of hair erupted towards her.

"Oh... hello Sakura." She replied. Her heart wasn't in it, and a brief flash of hurt filtered through Sakura's green eyes before her concerned look returned. "It's been a while."

"It has. So um, let me walk you home, okay?" Ino merely shrugged and turned for home, Sakura rushing up beside her, silence chipping away at her the rose haired companion's nerve. The moment was uneasy, Sakura's uncomfortable fumbling and Ino's cold indifference caused many faltering conversations, but somewhere about a third of the way back to Ino's apartment Sakura finally nodded to herself and paused Ino with a hand on her shoulder. Ino waited for a moment before her irritation spiked and she pulled her shoulder away from the other woman's hand.

"What do you want, Sakura?"

"I want you to move on, Ino." The two's expressions were exchanged. Sakura's stone hardened expression struck Ino's horror filled eyes as she shirked back as if the words had slapped her. "This isn't healthy. You don't think we don't know you're diving into his mind everyday? That you're literally living in the past? He's.. g-gone Ino." Sakura's voice belied her unshakable visage. "You need to let him go."

"No." As far was Ino was concerned that was the end of their pathetic excuse of an argument. She was apparently mistaken as Sakura forced her against a wall and held her there.

"You really think he'd want you torturing yourself like this? That he would want you to be unhappy by doing this to yourself?"

"It's my choice." She turned her head away from Sakura's rude and intense stare. "Even if I have to wait for him all my life, I can't leave him alone. Not again." A fire lit in Ino's eyes as she turned back, a grin more suited to her comatose lover appearing on her face. "Besides he will beat this, I know he will. Dattebayo!" Sakura's chilled countenance melted into a stunned but still worried look. "I am going to stay by his side, in sickness and in health until we grow old together, that's my promise of a lifetime!" Ino smile changed returning to the blank face that had become her mask.

"But I-Ino... why do you torture yourself going into his memories like you do? How is that waiting for him?"

"I do it because it's when our life stopped. Because when he comes back, we can start right then, and as if nothing ever changed. I do it because until he comes back, I'm dead to this world too... Because I want to remember... When we lived."

With Sakura trembling, holding in her angry and stricken words, Ino resumed walking home alone.

* * *

I'm alive, just sorta dormant. I'm fiddling with a few chapters but nothing concrete. Frankly I screwed up my laptop screen and had to pause writing Kitsune no Hishou 02, Reality 03, Memories 13, His and Her Daughter 02, Naruto Noir 02, The Farmer Nin 02, and the revamped Red Shirts at Hogwarts until it was fixed. I'm really rough on shit I swear. Anyway I did this to get the creative juices flowing, and see if I got the right attitude towards some of this stuff.

An odd fiction that came to me for some odd reason, funnily enough Heartbreak Warfare was playing and my mind clicked onto this. Go figure. Maybe I need to switch over to some American music, my brain may be thinking too Otaku lately to get a firm grip on my dying muse.

As per usual: Comments and Reviews HIGHLY appreciated as they help my muse regain HP. Been blinking red a while now.

Till Next Time: Ja Ne~!


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